INSTR2023: The 9th International Symposium on Transport Network Resilience

The 9th International Symposium on Transport Network Resilience (INSTR) was held at InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong from Dec 13-14, 2023. Four keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. Hani Mahmassani (Northwestern University), Prof. Yu-Chiun Chiou (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University), Prof. Fumitaka Kurauchi (Gifu University), and Prof. William H.K. Lam (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) on Dec 13 morning. In this symposium, more than 80 presentations were given in 29 parallel sessions, covering the analysis, planning, design, control, and management of transport networks. Prof. Michael Bell (Convenor of INSTR2023) and Dr. Jintao Ke (Co-chair of INSTR2023) gave closing speeches, followed by a welcoming remark by Prof. Nour-Eddin El Faouzi and Dr. Angelo Furno (Co-chairs of INSTR2026).

4 JAN 2024 (THUR) | 16:00-17:00

Experimental Studies on Bicycle Flow Dynamics of Cyclist Loading and Unloading Processes at Bottlenecks

Speaker: 

Dr. WONG Wai

Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury

Date:    January 4, 2024 (Thursday)

Time:   4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Venue:  Room 632C, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong

Abstract

Cycling has emerged as one of the most important green transport modes in recent years, with cities increasingly prioritizing cycling in their sustainable policy agenda. However, the associated traffic dynamics, especially the evolution of bicycle flow at bottlenecks, have not been extensively studied. In this study, real-world experiments were conducted to investigate the dynamics of bicycle flow at bottlenecks under varying cycling demands generated by the cyclist unloading and loading processes. Upon the activation of the bottleneck, its capacity remained largely constant. For the same physical system, the bottleneck capacity of the cyclist loading process exceeded that of the unloading process, indicating the occurrence of capacity drop and hysteresis. Statistical analyses demonstrated that the capacity drop was attributable to the difference in speeds of the two processes for the same cycling demands after the bottleneck activation. These findings could potentially be explained by behavioral inertia. Further analysis revealed that compared with the unloading process, the cyclist loading process was associated with higher cycling speeds owing to the higher overtaking rates. The outcomes of this study can advance our understanding of the physics of bicycle flow dynamics and provide valuable insights for transport planning professionals involved in the facility planning and control of existing networks.

About the Speaker

Dr. Wai Wong is a lecturer in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He earned his Ph.D. in transportation and traffic engineering and his bachelor's degree with first-class honours in Civil Engineering both from the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Hong Kong. Following his graduation, Dr. Wong served as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, USA. His research interests include smart city development, big data analytics, intelligent transport systems, cybersecurity and sustainable transport. Fueled by his passion and vision for creating smarter and more efficient transportation systems, Wai has dedicated his research to advancing smart cities through cutting-edge research. He has published in top-tier international journals, including Transportation Science, Transportation Research Part B, Transportation Research Part C, and IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. He also contributes as a reviewer for these prestigious transportation journals.

28 DEC 2023 (THUR) | 15:00-16:00

Research Cases on the Applications of Data-Driven Methods in Smart Cities

Speaker:

Dr. WANG Hai

School of Computing and Information Systems, Singapore Management University

Date:    December 28, 2023 (Thursday)

Time:   3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Venue:  Room 612B, 6/F Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong

Abstract

The rapid development and widespread adoption of mobile devices, sensors, IoT, and communication technology have led to the generation of vast volumes of multi-source, high-dimensional data in various systems within the broader framework of smart cities, including transportation, logistics, e-commerce, healthcare, etc. Consequently, numerous data-driven methods have been developed and implemented to address research challenges related to the design and operations of these systems. In this talk, we will briefly discuss several research cases on the applications of data-driven methods in smart cities. These cases include: (1) Descriptive methods for mobile transaction digits distribution and crowd-sourcing food delivery operations; (2) Predictive methods for ICU patient condition evaluation and freelance platform service quality prediction; (3). Prescriptive method for shared transportation ride matching and feeder vessel transshipment routing and scheduling. Through these cases, we aim to showcase the diverse applications of data-driven methods in addressing some key challenges in smart cities.

About the Speaker

Dr. WANG Hai is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at Singapore Management University and a visiting teaching faculty at the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the Singapore PI for the interdisciplinary AI research program at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. He received B.S. from Tsinghua University and Ph.D. in Operations Research from MIT. His research focuses on methodologies of analytics and optimization, data-driven decision-making models, machine learning algorithms, and their applications in smart cities, transportation, and logistics systems. He has published in leading journals such as Transportation Science, American Economic Review P&P, M&SOM, Fundamental Research, and Transportation Research Part B/C/E and has long term collaborations with leading companies such as Meituan, Tencent, DiDi, Grab, and Upwork. He serves as Associate Editor for Transportation Science and Service Science, Special Issue Editor for Transportation Research Part B/Part C, and Service Science, and Editorial Board Member for Transportation Research Part C/Part E. Dr. Wang was selected as Chan Wu & Yunying Rising Star Fellow in transportation and mobility, received Lee Kong Chian Research Excellence Award twice, was nominated for MIT’s top graduate teaching award, and won the Excellent Teaching award for junior faculty at SMU. During his Ph.D. studies at MIT, he also served as the co-President of the MIT Chinese Students & Scholars Association and as Chair of the MIT-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum.

Hosts:

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

JOINTLY ORGANIZED WITH 

HONG KONG SOCIETY FOR TRANSPORTATION STUDIES

And INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT STUDIES, HKU